Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-05-19
HOME AFFAIRS.
A WALL OF FIRE AROUND A
CAMP OF 800 MEN.
Volante an Easy Winner-A CaIifor-
nian Gets an Important Office
Railroad Accident-Etc.
ESPECIAL DISPATCHES To THE REeoRD-usIos.l
CALIFoRNIA,s yIcrosy.
An Important Trust Confided to a Citizen
of This State


of This State.
WASHINGTON, May 1Sth-The President
to-day appointed j. L. Rathbone. of San
francisco, Consul General to Paris. The
tact that California would receive this APP
polntment has been indicated in the dis
patches. There has been a long and
bitter controversy over this office, and
every State in the Union presented cardi-
dates, some of them being distinguished
public men. This is the first Consulate
General in Europe ever given a Califor-
nlan. a. }. lie Breton will be appointed
Vice Consul by Major Rathbone. There
are "A Consuls and l3 Vice-Consuls in the
terri ory over which the Consul General at
Paris has jurisdiction.
REASONS FOR THE APPOINTMENT.
WASHINGTON, May y1Sth.-[Special. THE
appointment of Major J. L. Rathbone, of
San Francisco, as Consul-General at Paris,
has dashed to the ground the buoyant
hopes of about a thousand prominent
Democratic politicians in different States of
the Union. Ex-Senators, ex-Representa-
tlves, ex-Judges-men who bad rendered
important service to the party in the last
Presidential campaign-were applicants for
this position. 1t is one of the choicest
offices in the gift of the Government. The
salary OF the place is only $1,000, but the
emoluments of the position are more than
double the salary. The President had
delayed filling the office, allowing
Republican to hold it two years be-
cause there was no intriguing, no blus-
ter or nothing of fight for Major
Rathbone. 1t was made in a straightfor-
ward, manly, American way. While in
the army Rathbone had no politics. but in
1884 he voted and worked hard for Cieve-
land. His Democracy was vouched for bv
John Rosenfeld, l. Gate President of the
Democratic State Club; Senator Hearst,
Congressman Thompson, John P. Irish,
Jesse ID. Carr and Joseph A. Donahue.
Senator Hearst had nothing to do with
Rathbone's appointment. He introduced
the successful candidate 10 Secretary Bay
ard and that was all. The President made
the selection himself. He had given pub
lie positions of prominence to every big
State in the Union excepting California,
and he desired to pay his respects to the
Pacific coast.
Some idea of the value of this DO.
sition can be formed from the fact
that Ex-Governor Waller, of Connect
lieut. who worked for Cleveland in
the last campaign, was given his choice of
Minister to England or Consul General to
London, and he choose the latter. There
are seven Consuls- General of the United
States in all Europe, exclusive of such po-
sitions filled by Ministers resident accred-
tied to smaller powers on the continent.
and of this number Major Rathbone's Con-
sulate is only second to that of Governor
Waller. An idea of the class OF people
seeking this place may be known when it
is stated that such men as Sam Carey and
ex-Representative Lefeyre, of Ohio; ex-
Senator Williams, of Kentucky ex-Repre-
sentative Hopkins, of Pennsylvania ex-
Governor English. of Connecticut, and
ex-Representative Tucker, of Virginia, de-
sired it. The President has recently given
Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Tennes-
see, Georgia and other States in the East
prominent Federal offices, and had he not
recognized California in this manner it
would have been q gross oversight.
The Critic tonight says Major Rath-
bone is well known in this city. where he
still has ,ipterests. His selection is made
from a list of about four hundred appli-
cants for this position, many of them being
men of prominence. Major Rathbone is a
stepson of the late United States Senator
Ira Harris of New York. His wife is
daughter of Mr.. Atherton. one of the Cali
fornia pioneers, and a lady of rare attain
ments. He is now President of the Blood
Horse Association of California, an associa-
ton composed of the most enterprising and
wealthy citizens of the Golden State, also
Director of the Union Club of San Fran
cisco, and an honorary member of several
of the leading clubs of New York.